Edward John
1 min readAug 8, 2022

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"if you tell people they have no control over their thoughts, they're behaviors gets bad, but when you tell people they have control, they tend to be good."

Yes, similar to if you tell people there is an invisible man in the sky watching their every move, they will tend to behave themselves. Doesn't mean it's true, though. In fact, it just demonstrates how easily people's behaviour can be manipulated.

"I would say there is overwhelming evidence we exist and we have experiences."

There are experiences being had. Whether or not they are ours is another matter. I would say we don't control any of the experiences, not just the thoughts.

"I would say our thoughts are not ours the same way I would say hearing a radio station is not our."

We could say exactly the same about all experiences, including the illusion of having control over our choices.

"But I can change the station."

The "I" that thinks it is changing the station is being led to believe it is changing the station, when in fact it isn't.

"We adopt some of our thoughts, favoring some"

Our tendency to adopt certain thoughts rather than others is not something we chose.

"though I say people are not their thoughts, that is not the same thing as saying they aren't responsible for behaviors"

It is. People's behaviour is influenced by their thoughts. Even the thought "I will ignore that thought" is itself a thought. If you are not your thoughts, you are also not the one who thinks they are not their thoughts.

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Edward John
Edward John

Written by Edward John

Sometimes my inside is full of sunshine 🌞 edwardjohnwritesATgmailDOTcom

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